1850 American Gold Tycoon

Chapter 617 A clan that cannot be enslaved

Gibson and Le Goff were the first British and French elites to arrive in California and had the best understanding of the situation in the west. They were successively appointed by their governments as consuls in the western region of the United States.

"The top leaders of the Western Region held a secret meeting in Weixiuju today. Gibson, do you think Liang Yao will lead the Western Region to secede from the Union?" Le Goff said slowly, shaking the wine in the red wine glass.

The circle of senior officials in the western region is relatively tight, and except for the few white people who were closely united around Liang Yao at the beginning of the founding of the state, the other senior officials in the western region are all Chinese.

Therefore, Le Goff has not been able to develop his own informant in the circle of Western senior officials. Without an informant to provide information, it is naturally impossible to know the contents of the secret meetings of Western senior officials.

"I also want to know the exact answer." Gibson frowned. "I have visited several high-level officials in the Western Conference these days, but they are all very tight-lipped. They all remain silent on the sensitive topic of secession from the Union."

Since last year, London has been paying attention to the situation in the United States. The third Duke of Devonshire and British Prime Minister Henry John Tresley has been urging their consuls in the United States to collect as much intelligence as possible and send it back. London.

So that London can make a more accurate judgment on the situation in the United States to facilitate decision-making.

"Liang Yao has always been very cautious in his actions, and his attitude is really unpredictable." Legoff said while taking a sip of red wine.

The ambitious Napoleon III intended to support an agent in the Americas in order to extend the influence of the French Empire to the North American continent.

Liang Yao has always had a good relationship with France and is very capable. Logically speaking, he is a more suitable candidate.

After being in contact with Liang Yao over the years, Le Goff gradually realized that it was possible to cooperate with Liang Yao, but for Liang Yao to be France's puppet and agent, judging from the current situation, this possibility was almost impossible. Unless Liang Yao reaches the end of his rope.

Le Goff quite hopes that Liang Yao will lead the army in the west and have a big fight with either the north or the south in the east, and it is best to lose both sides.

At that time, France can choose to lend a helping hand to any of the parties and act as a mediator to balance the forces of all parties in North America.

France hopes that a strong America can attract the attention of its old rival Britain, but at the same time it does not want the United States to be too strong.

Britain's idea is different from France's. Britain hopes that the entire United States, like the South, will completely become a supplier of raw materials and a dumping ground for industrial products for the British Empire.

Although the national consciousness of the United States has risen and its size is also increasing day by day, the British Empire has no possibility of directly colonizing the United States. But the British Empire still hopes that the United States can become an economic colony of the British Empire, always providing them with cotton and buying their products.

The main ethnic group in the western part of the United States is now Chinese, which is a completely different ethnic group from the Yankees and Dixie people in the east. They do not have a numerical advantage and are in a relatively weak position.

It stands to reason that such an ethnic group should be the ideal target of support for London, but in his report to London, Gibson did not recommend supporting the Chinese forces in the west.

In the past twelve years, Gibson has watched with his own eyes how Liang Yao led the Chinese to overcome obstacles and gradually transform the western part of the North American continent from a barbaric land into an industrial society. During this period, they also casually beat up the Japanese in East Asia and the Dutch East India Company in Southeast Asia.

The land under their feet was a small fishing village with a population of less than a thousand people twelve years ago. In just twelve years, it developed into an industrial city with a population comparable to Manchester and Liverpool.

This kind of development speed was something Gibson had never seen before, and it gave Gibson a chilling feeling.

Twelve years ago, there were only 300,000 to 400,000 people in the western region. Today, 12 years later, the population of the entire western region has exceeded the 5 million mark. Gibson can't even imagine what the American West will look like in another 12 years.

Gibson knew that supporting people like Liang Yao was a recipe for disaster for the British Empire.

Liang Yao, and the nation to which Liang Yao belongs, is a hard-working, energetic and enterprising nation. Such a nation will only become a competitor of the British Empire, rather than the Sikhs of the Indian peninsula and the Hindus. Brahmins, like Kshatriyas, are willing to kneel down and serve as their servants.

The Chinese people in the west who wear cross-collared clothes and have short haircuts are fundamentally different from the Chinese people on the other side of the ocean who have braids and dull eyes in the Qing Empire.

"Liang Yao is for ambitious people. I don't think he would be willing to just be a small general for the federal government. This is not the Liang Yao I know." Gibson clinked glasses with Le Goff and immediately asked Legoff inquired.

"Leaving aside the issue in the west for the moment, the contradiction between the north and the south is irreconcilable. I think a war is inevitable. I don't know whether His Majesty Napoleon III is more optimistic about the south or the north."

"Your Majesty and I are separated by an ocean, so how can I know your Majesty's thoughts?" Legoff cast a careless eye. Although Britain and France were still close allies after the war in the Near East, Legoff was not convinced of the situation in front of him. An old British friend still had reservations.

——————

At the end of January 1861, Lincoln finally left Springfield, the capital of Illinois, and took a train south to Washington, the capital of the federal government.

At this time, six deep-blue southern states have declared independence, and ten southern swing states and the western region are waiting on the sidelines. The country of the United States is already in a state of crisis.

On January 30, the outgoing fifteenth President James Buchanan gave his last speech in Congress. Lincoln went to Congress to listen to this speech, which had no practical significance.

Buchanan burst into tears on the podium and said that he was deeply saddened and regretful about the division of the country, and at the same time said that he was powerless to change the situation.

Buchanan's performance not only disappointed Lincoln, but also made him feel contempt. ,

In the past four years, the supreme power of this country has been in the hands of such weak and incompetent people. It would be strange for this country to get better.

Leaving Congress with a disappointed heart, Lincoln, who had not yet officially taken office, began to form a cabinet in full swing so that the federal government could be up and running immediately after he was sworn in.

Lincoln had learned that representatives from six deep-blue states had gathered in Montgomery, Alabama, not only to form a pseudo-Confederate government, but also to unveil their pseudo-flag and emblem, and were now drafting a constitution for the Confederate Government of the United States.

Lincoln knew that time was running out and he hoped to take office as soon as possible.

This would at least allow some of the swing states in the south to renounce their thoughts of independence. With one less swing state to join the Confederacy, the Confederacy would be weaker.